Quiet Heroes
by lye tea
Summary: Silence and bravery are one and the same. 50 sentences. Zuko/Ty Lee


**a u t h o r ' s.note.** Written for 1sentence at LJ.

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**Quiet Heroes**

_1. Ring_

Around her finger there was a ring, from him (and his mother) and that said all there was to be said.

_2. Hero_

Once, Ty Lee told him this, "The quiet heroes are the ones left behind on the battlefield, the ones forgotten, the ones you'll never forget."

_3. Memory_

Locked away in a jeweled casket are the world's memories, those, he tossed aside and somehow, can't remember her face.

_4. Box_

Boxed in, incarceration, just the two of them against the world—too bad it didn't work.

_5. Run_

(Run, run fast as you can) Azula's coming, but so is Ty Lee.

_6. Hurricane_

A hurricane took him in, made him feel safe, told him the world would be fine, and the hurricane lied, left him to die.

_7. Wings_

Someday, she's gonna fly, spread out feathers, white and pale, blinding in the sun, and she'll take him too, just for fun.

_8. Cold_

It was cold tonight, bitter and biting, with the winds howling through the holes in their jackets.

_9. Red_

Red ink makes blood, her eyes were wide awake and all she saw was him (and two paper-thin swords).

_10. Drink_

"Have a drink," he coaxed, and No-Thank-You, she replied.

_11. Midnight_

Across from the lake, there was a house, small and proud it gleamed with bright and moon, and there, Ty Lee writes him a final letter.

_12. Temptation_

Temptation equaled women, and him and women added up was him fading in and out.

_13. View_

The view from over the head, past the trellis and the lanai, was a baby kingfisher being speared—signified the finale, augured it's all over now.

_14. Music_

Music played and the children sang, and him and her lived only in the notes.

_15. Silk_

The first time they slept together, Ty Lee couldn't stop crying and soon, the silks were coated with tears and pain.

_16. Cover_

Duck and cover: they can't (won't) be together.

_17. Promise_

Zuko made a promise, a petty one, but still a promise that he would return and marry her; he never did.

_18. Dream_

Dreams were like imaginations, but she could continue to dream when all her imagination ran dry, like a sirocco blowing over the desert, covering everything in dust and sand.

_19. Candle_

The candle flickered then went out, quelled, suppressed, and she started to shake—bad.

_20. Talent_

Ty Lee had a unique talent: She could scale up the walls and drive him insane.

_21. Silence_

The silence deafened (how absurd) and now, there were no more warriors, no other reason to fight, and they were happy at long last.

_22. Journey_

The journey stopped here, with a girl and a boy and smiles that cracked.

_23. Fire_

Fire he knew, her he knew not.

_24. Strength_

Out of infinite wisdom and hurt, there came infinite strength, but she simply didn't know how to call it out.

_25. Mask_

The Blue Spirit had a mask, and so did she (hers was the one she showed to him day and day).

_26. Ice_

Ice was frangible, chip at it and it will fragment, into a thousand tiny shards dancing; ice was just like them.

_27. Fall_

"Call me when you fall, ring me up as you crash, and I'll catch you before you drown if I am so inclined (_perhaps)_."

_28. Forgotten_

When they were young, she startled him with her ready-to-give smiles and never-dying hope, and now when they're older and have seen too much, he still remembered her laughs.

_29. Dance_

Ty Lee was like a butterfly, twirled 'round and 'round, fast and made him sickly pale.

_30. Body_

He touched her shoulders, comforted her, and tried to say: Don't worry, at least we're alive.

_32. Sacred_

The rains came down over the cities, and Zuko buried himself and his worries inside (Ty Lee wasn't even an after-thought).

_32. Farewells_

Goodbye, good night, when a thousand years have been slain, diced and sliced and smothered in hate, they can be friends again.

_33. World_

End the end, so the world could be birthed anew (and all the acrimony can be washed away, she said).

_34. Formal_

Say the pledge (to the nation), say the vows (to each other), everything was always so formal, extravagant and insincere.

_35. Fever_

She was hot and burning, felt his kisses on her face and the revulsion surging through.

_36. Laugh_

Ty Lee laughs pretty and cheery, bright and light, she's got the eternal smile—the one that doesn't dissipate in despair and fear, in defeat.

_37. Lies_

"Tell me a lie, tell me that I was the first."

_38. Forever_

There was no such thing as forever love, only the forever art of not-loving.

_39. Overwhelmed_

Life comes fast and unexpected, uncontrolled, she barely endures it, but friendships last and that's what matters.

_40. Whisper_

In his eyes, she is coy and furtive, and in his ears, she whispers that she loves him, as a brother and nothing more.

_41. Wait_

A girl's life is measured in Waits: wait for marriage, for birth, for her to get old and wise and for him to finally say that she is cherished.

_42. Talk_

"Shut up," Ty Lee says, "There's no need for an explanation," because there's no need to continue, not when they're enemies.

_43. Search_

Some days, Ty Lee could forget who she was, what she was, and everything that made her so rightly wrong.

_44. Hope_

Hope doesn't persist, not like a disease, not when she's on one side of and him on the other, and there's a river of betrayal and wounds separating them.

_45. Eclipse_

The Fire Lord knew of the eclipse, and Zuko (being the un-goodly son and prince) left that day and left her and Mai behind.

_46. Gravity_

Gravity drags her down, tugs at her limbs and rejoices as she falls to her knees, and there's no one to pull her up from the other end.

_47. Highway_

_Life is a highway_; life's path winds this way and that, Ty Lee hisses out caution, afraid he'll miss the exit and miss her too.

_48. Unknown_

Zuko could no longer sleep, not after he became a feeble, shriveled man, all that remained a mystery was the crux of future.

_49. Lock_

Ty Lee locks up her heart tight and guarded, never lets anyone in, never lets him see who she really is (and she is glad, that was safe).

_50.__B__reathe_

Take a breath, draw it out, slow and low, she snakes her arms around his, and kisses him chaste (rough) on the cheek.


End file.
